Battle of the Clubs 2014

Taupo

maddix park mx

 

 

 

 

 

The naming of the teams continues with the Tauranga Club the latest to list the riders who will be competing at the 2014 edition of the Battle of the Clubs in Taupo on June 28th.   Tauranga is fielding two teams as follows:

Team 1 - LORDS

Vets Keith Patterson 
MX1 Sam Lutes
MX2 JK (Jared Koningsveld)
Junior 250 Representing "Trent Haywood" is Jesse Bussas 
Junior 125 Josh Tredinnick 
Junior 85 Reece Garrett 

Team 2 - DUKES

Vets Paul Burgess
MX1 Cameron McCaskie
MX2 Matt Kenyon 
Junior 250 Johvann Phillips 
Junior 125 Simon Atkinson 
Junior 85 Chris Merriman 

Local Tauranga rider Brad Cameron is racing for the Rotorua team but Whakatane is still looking for a 250cc rider so any of you BOPMCC Junior 250 riders keen to give this a go, please call Di 027 511 0722 if you are interested.

Congratulations and good luck to all those competing.

BIKE CLUBS TO BATTLE FOR KIWI PRIDE 

by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

Expect the country’s most talented motocross riders to put aside their traditional rivalries and brand allegiances as they instead join together under provincial colours when they next compete.

They will flock to Taupo in just over a week’s time, on Saturday, June 28, for the fifth annual Battle of the Clubs motocross, the event a fundraiser to help send a three-rider New Zealand team to contest the big annual Motocross of Nations (MXoN) – the Olympic Games of motocross – this year to be held in Latvia.

The format used for racing at the fundraiser motocross in Taupo will be very similar to what the Team New Zealand trio can expect when they line up in Latvia against national teams from all around the world this September.

Riders will this weekend align on club loyalties, uniting under regional flags to find out which one club is the best in New Zealand motocross.

The club-based teams each comprise six riders – three junior and three senior riders – who will compete on 85cc, 125cc, 250cc and 450cc machines.

The entry fee from each of the clubs, plus a gold coin donation from the hundreds of spectators expected to flood the circuit, and the proceeds from raffle ticket sales will be a welcome boost for the Motorcycling New Zealand coffers.

For riders such as Hawera’s Daryl Hurley and Taupo’s Brad Groombridge, the MXoN fundraiser carries special significance.

Hurley, now in semi-retirement, will spearhead the Taranaki effort in Taupo and 23-year-old Groombridge will lead the defence for the defending champion Taupo Motorcycle Club.

Groombridge raced for New Zealand at the MXoN in the United States in 2010 and he knows just how important the event is.

“It’s huge. The MXoN is an awesome event and I’m proud to be supporting New Zealand’s campaign,” said Groombridge.

“It is very important for New Zealand to be represented at this event and I’m just happy that I can support whatever team is chosen to go to Latvia.

“The MXoN is at just another level to anything that we can experience in New Zealand.”

In addition to being a multi-time former national motocross and supercross champion, Hurley also has plenty of actual MXoN experience, having been one of the Team New Zealand trio to race in Belgium in 2001 (where the team finished third overall), in the Netherlands in 2004 and in the United States in 2007.

Nearly $10,000 was raised at the fundraiser event last season, that cash going towards New Zealand’s three-rider entry to the MXoN in Germany last year, and it is hoped as similar amount will be raised to send the Kiwi team to Latvia this time around.

The three riders (plus a reserve) to represent New Zealand in Latvia in September are expected to be named in the coming weeks.

Credit: Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com

 
Bookmark and Share